DONOR REPORT 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS A Message from Aurora Humanitarian Initiative CEO 3 Gratitude in Action 5 2017 Events and Achievements 6 • Aurora Prize 7 • Aurora Prize Impact 8 • Aurora Dialogues 19 • Aurora Humanitarian Index 21 • Aurora Gratitude Scholarships 23 Looking forward to 2018 Aurora Prize 30 Aurora Humanitarian Initiative in Numbers 32 The Aurora Community of Supporters 33 How to Support the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative 40 _ 2 A MESSAGE from CEO hanks to your support, the Aurora Initiative 2017 turned out to be a true landmark effort bearing significance not only for Armenia but also for the global humanitarian T community at large. The Aurora Prize ceremony was attended by CEOs of global companies, founders_ of some of the world’s largest philanthropic foundations, political and religious leaders. By asserting Aurora’s principle of Gratitude in Action, our community helps those who are in need today. Aurora is becoming a global humanitarian movement that will snowball to expand the circle of saviors and those saved. There are already over 250 like-minded thinkers supporting Aurora. We received two thousand applications from volunteers and over one million people tuned in to the ceremony on social media. On top of that, we have featured in over 500 print publications across the globe. Last year, the million-dollar award helped towards humanitarian projects in Ethiopia, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Brazil. Thousands of children received aid in the form of food, shelter and educational grants, in addition to medication and clothing. As you already know, this year’s laureate of the Aurora Prize is Dr. Tom Catena, the only doctor to 700,000 people in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains. He nominated three charitable organizations helping doctors in African countries as beneficiaries of the award. It takes a special brand of person to sacrifice their own life in order to save others, but every one of us can help heroes such as Maggie and Tom by following the principle of Gratitude in Action. Thank you for being at the core of the Aurora movement. _ 3 The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative spans a number of projects, including the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity, the Aurora Dialogues, the Aurora Humanitarian Index, the Aurora Gratitude Projects, the Aurora Movement and 100 LIVES. AURORA DIALOGUES AURORA PRIZE AURORA HUMANITARIAN AURORA INDEX MOVEMENT AURORA GRATITUDE PROJECTS 100 LIVES _ 4 Gratitude in Action is the concept that drives the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative. The Aurora Prize co-founders launched the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative with the aim of inspiring those who have received aid in times of crises to express gratitude by offering similar assistance to others. As there are countless survivors around the world who owe their lives to the generosity of others, the co-founders believe we can best acknowledge such benevolence by taking similar action in return. This is GRATITUDE IN ACTION. By involving Aurora supporters around the world, it is the co-founders’ hope that this can become a global endeavor that will snowball to increase the circle of saviors, and most importantly, – the number of those saved. _ 5 2017 EVENTS and ACHIEVEMENTS _ 6 Marguerite Barankitse Aurora Prize Laureate 2016 The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity is a global humanitarian award established to recognize modern day heroes and the exceptional impact their actions have on preserving human life and advancing humanitarian causes in the face of adversity. The Aurora Prize honors Laureates receives a $100,000 USD grant, as well as the unique opportunity to continue the cycle of giving by nominating organizations that have inspired their work to share a $1,000,000 USD award. An Aurora Prize Laureate will be named each year between 2015 and 2023 in remembrance of the eight-year Armenian Genocide which lasted from 1915–1923. The inaugural Aurora Prize was awarded in 2016 to Marguerite Barankitse from Maison Shalom and REMA Hospital in Burundi for the extraordinary impact she has made in saving thousands of lives, caring for orphans and refugees during the country’s civil war. _ 7 2016 AURORA PRIZE ONGOING IMPACT MARGUERITE BARANKITSE, the 2016 Aurora Prize Laureate, selected the following organizations that inspired her work to share the $1 MILLION AWARD, which has been allocated for 10 initiatives in 5 countries to give no less than 3,000 direct underprivileged beneficiaries a chance for the better future: _ 8 : he Fondation Jean-François Peterbroeck (Belgium) is using the Aurora Prize Award funds($333,333) received from the Aurora Prize Award to fund the “INUKA project” in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which aims to empower girls and young women who’ve been affected by displacement, abandonment, abuse or other hardship via programs aimed at reintegration, education and economic community rehabilitation. Since receiving the funds from the Aurora Prize Award in 2016, the “INUKA project” has been able to hire 9 additional psychologists and social workers, which helped to support up to 500 children. The funds awarded will continue to have an impact on the INUKA project for the next 4 years. Additionally the Foundation implements a program to support Burundian refugee students in Rwanda by granting micro-credits and training. Until 2018, the program will save 370 students from drugs and working as rebel soldiers. _ 9 : he Fondation du Grand Duc et de la Grande-Duchesse (Luxemburg) is using the Aurora Prize Award funds ($333,333) received from the Award to finance their project providing for 200 Eritrean refugees arriving in the Mai Aini refugee camp in Ethiopia from Egypt. The project aims to release victims of human trafficking from Egyptian prisons and resettle them into refugee camps in Ethiopia. The funds from the Award will support the project for two years, in addition to providing vocational training and building a training center that can accommodate at least 200 refugees per year. The Foundation also provides microcredit and scholarship programs that support over 1,100 Burundian refugees and locals. The program aims preventing youngsters from being recruited by the militia and preparing them for the future reintegration into their homeland communities. _ 10 : he Fondation Partage Luxembourg (formerly Bridderlech Deelen) is using the Aurora Prize Award funds ($333,333) to offer educational opportunities to young people living in one of the poorest areas of Rio de Janeiro, located in the favela of Morro São Carlos. The project is called CACEF (Centro de Atividades Comunitarias «Esperança do Futuro”) and the funds from the Award will have an impact on the project over the course of 3 years, contributing to a citizen education program for over 200 underprivileged beneficiaries to give them the skills to protect themselves against the lure of drug traffickers and crime. Additionally, in conjunction with a Catholic Diocese in Rwanda, The Fondation Bridderlech Deelen is dedicating funds from the Aurora Prize Award to improve and upgrade school infrastructure in the Gikongoro Province of Rwanda, and to prevent 650 youngsters from becoming criminals and enlisting into armed groups. _ 11 : he three charitable foundations also support the work of Marguerite Barankitse’s organization, Maison Shalom, which provides social and economic assistance to Burundian refugees in Rwanda. The organization provides funding for the refugees’ education (secondary & university) and vocational training, in addition to restoring dignity to orphans, street children, formerly imprisoned children and children of poverty-stricken parents. Since its creation in 1993 Maison Shalom has provided aid to over 30,000 orphans and children in need. _ 12 2017 Aurora Prize NOMINATIONS CAMPAIGN The nomination period for the 2017 Aurora Prize lasted from June 1 through September 9, 2016, during which 558 submissions for 252 unique candidates were received. Entries were submitted in 14 languages from 66 countries. 57 organizations and institutions participated in the nomination process, including: the International Rescue Committee, the Catholic Medical Mission Board, the German Committee for UNICEF, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF), No Peace Without Justice, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Human Rights First, The Carter Centre, Human Rights Watch, and International Medical Corps. In its second year, the Aurora Prize saw a 200% increase in the number of nominations. _ 13 The Aurora Prize Selection Committee brings together a group of Aurora Prize Selection exceptional individuals with notable achievements in the field of humanitarian affairs and human rights. Members of the Selection Committee review a shortlist of candidates, determining the finalists and the Aurora Prize Laureate by drawing upon their own expertise, the material provided in the nomination forms and additional information. GEORGE CLOONEY VARTAN GREGORIAN OSCAR ARIAS LORD ARA DARZI SHIRIN EBADI Co-Chair Member Member Member Member Co-Founder, Not On Our Co-Founder, Aurora Nobel Laureate; Director of the Institute Nobel Laureate; Watch; humanitarian; Humanitarian Initiative; two-time President of Global Health Innovation human rights lawyer; performer and film maker President, Carnegie of Costa Rica at Imperial College London Iran’s First Female Judge Corporation of New York GARETH EVANS LEYMAH GBOWEE HINA JILANI MARY ROBINSON ERNESTO ZEDILLO Member Member Member Member Member President Emeritus, Nobel Laureate; Liberian Former UN Special Former UN High Director, Yale Center for the International Crisis Group; peace activist and women’s Representative of the Commissioner for Human Study of Globalization; former former Foreign Minister rights advocate Secretary-General on Rights; former President President of Mexico _ of Australia Human Rights Defenders of Ireland 14 2017 AURORA PRIZE LAUREATE and FINALISTS On May 28, 2017, the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to DR. TOM CATENA, a Catholic missionary from Amsterdam, New York who has saved thousands of lives as the only doctor permanently based in Sudan’s war-ravaged Nuba Mountains where humanitarian aid is restricted.